The 2010 Plan

You can't read a story about an NBA transaction without hearing what kind of impact it will have on the 2010 free agents. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade can both opt out of their deals in the summer of 2010… along with other pretty good players like Chris Bosh and Michael Redd. The free agent list in 2010 doesn't look too bad either.

While everyone is jockying for position to clear whatever space they can to lure 'Bron and DWade, we're sitting here with the opportunity to clean up in the '08-'09, and '09-'10 seasons. Some of these teams are going to be willing doormats for the next two years… leaving good teams like the Celtics clear paths.

Meanwhile, a lot of teams are setting themselves up for MASSIVE failure. Teams are essentially tanking the next two years in hopes of getting LeBron or Wade. They are handcuffing themselves by making every move with 2010 in mind… and telling their teams that the next two years don't matter.

I know LeBron and JayZ are tight… and a lot of people are looking at this as some kind of foregone conclusion… but what if the Cavs get better? What if the Cavs make a couple of decent moves over the next couple of years and get back to the Finals…. or even with the Championship? Will LeBron really leave that? Will LeBron leave a team on the precipice… to go to a team that has spent 2 years in the tank just to get enough cap space to make him an offer? Haven't any of these other teams heard of Bird Rights?

I'm openly rooting for the Celtics to beat the Cavs on a buzzer beater in Game 7 of the 2009-10 Conference Finals while the Nets are making a lottery pick. I want that team in such disarray that there's no way LeBron could switch teams.

There will be more than 1 team that gets ROYALLY screwed in 2010. Like franchise-altering screwed. I can't wait to see who it is.

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or how much ray allens expiring contract would be worth to a team freeing up space for lebron haha

Mike

Hey if you’re the Nets, I think you gotta do it. You gotta figure they have a better chance than anybody to pry Lebron away. Between Jay-Z and being in Brooklyn, they’re like the Celtics were in 1997 with Tim Duncan and the lottery, they’ve got a 36% chance of pulling #1…
Cleveland is going to have to be creative to build a team around Lebron. After next season, only Ben Wallace, Lebron and Pavlovic have guaranteed deals on the team. They could definitely sign a big time player and fill in around the edges, but they’re going to have to get lucky. Lebron is the prize though. I thought he was the best player (all apologies to Kobe BestPlayerintheWorld Bryant) by far this year. I fully expect him to win multiple rings before his career is up.

http://redsarmy.com BigMck

Ray’s money comes off the books in 2010 too….but some of that cash will go to budding superstar Rajon Rondo…I wonder who the three-time defending champion Celtics will go after?

Jacob Rosen

LeBron James is a smart guy. I am from his hometown of Akron, OH, and the overwhelming opinion around here is that if the Cavaliers withouth LeBron, are better than the Nets by the summer in 2010, then he will stay. The rumors of LeBron going to kick it with Jay-Z are just that, rumors. James sees the potential of his NBA future, and that future has to include multiple championships, MVPs, etc. In five years in Cleveland, he has yet to accomplish that. If, two years from now, he still has not won an MVP, and the talent around him has not improved, he will be gone. I think the Cavaliers are doing the right thing in keeping Gibson, and drafting Hickson, but they will need another great player in order to compete with your beloved Celtics in the playoffs.